Before the Las Vegas Strip ruled the gambling world, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. helped make the Cal Neva Lodge one of Nevada's coolest casinos in the early 1960s.
On Wednesday, roulette wheels will stop spinning and blackjack games will cease at Sinatra's old resort that straddles the Nevada-California border on Lake Tahoe's north shore at Crystal Bay.
While the resort's current owner hopes to reopen the casino under a new outside contractor by year's end, some analysts think the Cal Neva might have dealt its last hand. They said Tahoe casinos are particularly vulnerable to the double-whammy of the recession and competition from Las Vegas and Indian casinos.
In 2009, gambling revenues at Lake Tahoe casinos were roughly half of the 1992 total when corrected for inflation, said William Eadington, an economics professor and director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno.
“The realities are when you have that kind of decline the weakest operators typically get pushed out," Eadington said. “The older, tired casinos -- and the Cal Neva is a great example -- don't have much to offer for gaming."
Sinatra owned the Cal Neva from 1960 to 1963 during its heyday, drawing fellow Rat Pack members Martin, Davis and Peter Lawford, and stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Juliet Prowse.
Monroe spent her final weekend at the Cal Neva before she died of a drug overdose in Los Angeles in August 1962. The small cabin where she stayed still stands and is part of a tour offered by the resort.
Sinatra renovated the Cal Neva, adding the celebrity showroom and a helicopter pad on the roof. He used tunnels to shuffle mobsters and celebrities beneath the resort so they wouldn't be seen by the general public, said Carl Buehler, a bartender who leads tours at the resort. The tunnels were built in the late 1920s so liquor could be smuggled in during Prohibition, he said.
“This was one of the hottest casinos in Nevada when Frank owned it," Buehler said. “Frank had all the stars coming in and out of here, and it was always packed with people. I think the history is what keeps the Cal Neva going."
Sinatra's gambling license was stripped by the Nevada Gaming Control Board after Chicago mobster Sam Giancana was spotted on the premises.
Richard Bosworth, Canyon Capital Realty Advisors senior director, said the Los Angeles-based financial institution that has owned the rustic resort since last year has held discussions with several gambling-license holders who have expressed an interest in managing the casino.
He noted the rest of the property, including restaurants and the showroom now named for Sinatra, will remain open. The company has overseen significant turnarounds in non-gambling operations such as hotel and wedding bookings since becoming the landmark's owner through foreclosure.
On Wednesday, roulette wheels will stop spinning and blackjack games will cease at Sinatra's old resort that straddles the Nevada-California border on Lake Tahoe's north shore at Crystal Bay.
While the resort's current owner hopes to reopen the casino under a new outside contractor by year's end, some analysts think the Cal Neva might have dealt its last hand. They said Tahoe casinos are particularly vulnerable to the double-whammy of the recession and competition from Las Vegas and Indian casinos.
In 2009, gambling revenues at Lake Tahoe casinos were roughly half of the 1992 total when corrected for inflation, said William Eadington, an economics professor and director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno.
“The realities are when you have that kind of decline the weakest operators typically get pushed out," Eadington said. “The older, tired casinos -- and the Cal Neva is a great example -- don't have much to offer for gaming."
Sinatra owned the Cal Neva from 1960 to 1963 during its heyday, drawing fellow Rat Pack members Martin, Davis and Peter Lawford, and stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Juliet Prowse.
Monroe spent her final weekend at the Cal Neva before she died of a drug overdose in Los Angeles in August 1962. The small cabin where she stayed still stands and is part of a tour offered by the resort.
Sinatra renovated the Cal Neva, adding the celebrity showroom and a helicopter pad on the roof. He used tunnels to shuffle mobsters and celebrities beneath the resort so they wouldn't be seen by the general public, said Carl Buehler, a bartender who leads tours at the resort. The tunnels were built in the late 1920s so liquor could be smuggled in during Prohibition, he said.
“This was one of the hottest casinos in Nevada when Frank owned it," Buehler said. “Frank had all the stars coming in and out of here, and it was always packed with people. I think the history is what keeps the Cal Neva going."
Sinatra's gambling license was stripped by the Nevada Gaming Control Board after Chicago mobster Sam Giancana was spotted on the premises.
Richard Bosworth, Canyon Capital Realty Advisors senior director, said the Los Angeles-based financial institution that has owned the rustic resort since last year has held discussions with several gambling-license holders who have expressed an interest in managing the casino.
He noted the rest of the property, including restaurants and the showroom now named for Sinatra, will remain open. The company has overseen significant turnarounds in non-gambling operations such as hotel and wedding bookings since becoming the landmark's owner through foreclosure.
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